EU exit vote seen hurting London office prices

London

CENTRAL London office values would probably suffer if UK voters give Prime Minister David Cameron the chance to hold a referendum on European Union membership.

Foreign buyers, who accounted for three quarters of the £19.4 billion (S$39.4 billion) of central London properties traded last year, would probably hold off on buying in the months leading up to the vote, said Joe Valente, head of research and strategy at JPMorgan Asset Management. If the UK did quit the EU, more than 60 per cent of real estate investors surveyed by CBRE Group Inc said that they'd be less likely to put their money in the country.